From virtual replicas of physical devices to immersive digital representations, the technologies of virtual reality, augmented reality and digital twins can provide many benefits for all manner of business ventures. While some sectors have been more developed in terms of adoption (such as e-commerce for augmented reality; gaming, in terms of virtual reality; and digital twins, by engineers), many possibilities exist.
In this article, Digital Journal takes a look at the main barriers for adoption and suggests that the main way to overcome these barriers is by the formation of a five-year implementation and growth strategy.
With the main technologies outlined, there are challenges for the wider adoption of the platforms. While the reason, as the cloud that hangs over most innovations, is the additional cost to business, there is also, at times, a lack of understanding of the capabilities of the technologies.
With cost, the budget for implementing novel digital techniques is a barrier for many organizations. With this also comes risk taking. In terms of the full capabilities of the technologies, many people’s experiences are limited to what they know about virtual reality gaming or through marketing. It takes some time to understand how these types of digital, visual based technologies can be applied in other ways. Imagining the full capabilities is one way to address adoption inertia.
A further reason for a slow take-up is with the sometimes-haphazard approach to adoption, and where one company hears of the mistakes made by another operating within the same field. To overcome this, strategy is important. This requires care and planning so that visual technologies are applied in a meaningful way. Often an incremental strategy, prepared for a five-year period, is best, with each stage carefully budgeted for and with board-level commitment in place.
There are also technological constraints, especially with the form of the images. Generally, the process of developing content in 3D is more involved than 2D. With highly regulated industries, like pharmaceuticals and healthcare or finance, ensuring the materials conform to all regulations means there is an added layer of complexity.
Training is another aspect that need to be accounted for, as staff need to be trained with the new platforms and also to tap into the possibilities for taking the technology to the next level. Once these challenges are overcome, the strength of visual technologies for analyzing data can be fully realized, including looking for new patterns and trends within data sets.
